All of these speculative POSTS ARE MAKING ME F'ING NUTS.... IF coaches can burn all of this clock sneaking around doing job hunting interviews, I cannot get ALL IN to a program..... Just too mercenary for me. Sorry if it sounds harsh, but you want alumni and student body and student athlete to show commitment, then do the same and honor your contracts..... I seriously hope all of this speculation is off the wall. as a fan, as most of you all, we have sat thru stretches of really not so good ball, and stuck with it. Maybe we should also jump ship any time another program has a better team or ticket policy, etc.....

I get the frustration with all the rumors and hearsay, but try to remember - In 8 years, Porter has:


1) given us a newcomer of the year (Doyle);
2) given us a freshmen of the year (Krutwig);
3) given us TWO conference players of the year (Custer, Townes);
4) given us a win over a Top 5 nationally ranked team (Florida);
5) given us TWO regular season conference championships;
6( given us one Missouri Valley Tournament Championship,
7) given us a birth in the NIT;
8) given us a birth in the NCAA tournament;
9) given us an actual win in the tournament (30-something year drought);
10) Given us a Sweet 16 birth;
11) Given us an Elite 8 birth;
12 given us a Final Four;
13) given us a CBI Championship;
14 ) given us a pre-season tournament championship (Vegas)
15) been instrumental in getting a dedicated practice facility for the program (something even Notre Dame didn't even have until last year).
16) navigated us out of a consistent bottom-of-the-pack showing in the Horizon to a top-of-the conference contender in the Missouri Valley.
17) boosted attendance at the games, engaged with student-body, and … and as cliché as it's become to say.... "changed the culture" of Loyola Basketball (and really Loyola athletics as a whole).
18) boosted our national profile from a basketball fan's joke about 1963 to a "giant-slayer" and "teams to look out for" status;

He did all this while persevering through some pretty rough seasons and building this program from nothing! He didn't inherit anything from Whitesell but problems. If/When he turns this thing over to someone else -- he will leave this program light years from where it was when he got it... I mean -- really go back and look at this list. This guy doesn't owe Loyola anything. Loyola gave him a chance - yes, but with Grace Calhoun, no budget, a sparse fanbase, limited resources, and an empty cupboard of DII players. Look above --- he did all that in less than a decade!

I think he's a great coach and and great embassador, and I don't want to lose him... but short of him dropping an F bomb about us if/when he leaves -- I'll always hold him in high regard. Honestly, even if he stays and we do poorly -- I could never not be grateful for what he's done here. If he's gettin offers from big schools trying to entice him to try and be successful somewhere else, I can't begrudge him that... I personally think his own saying "Don't run from Happiness" is the right way to go --- but he's earned the right to at least listen to offers, and if he feels it's right for him, accept one.

Where are the children from all those "births" PM has given us?

_________________
Let's go Braden!

Then we should step up and give him enough to stay. If someone were to come to me and offer me two or three times the salary I currently make, to do the same job (but backed up with better resources), and you ask me if I consider it....you’re damn right I do. And I wouldn’t begrudge Porter in the slightest for doing the same.

I thought we just did that less than a year ago. I assume a contract was negotiated, and agreed to by both the school and the coach. It's just a piece of paper right? If he underperforms over the next season or two, does the school have the right to not honor the same paper? Will any power school extend a four or five year window to an incoming coach to succeed? If any coach wanted a long term contract and got one why shouldn't they complete the same... Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge PM fan, but how does this program get to a constant level of performance without stability of coaching and staff? I thought we wanted consistent and long term success, not a carousel of being used as stepping stones for something better. I thought we thought we are something better? Are we, or are we delusional in our expectations?
I will not reply any further as this is all subjective and there are no absolute answers, but these are my opinions.

It’s business.... it’s not personal. Yes Loyola would like long term success and from everything that Porter has said he does too. We still don’t have any information that he is trying to leave, there’s no reason to emotional over this. Even if he did leave I couldn’t be too upset, as everyone already said he accomplished so much for the school already. Loyola does not have the money to match a P5 school offer... if he gets a dream offer I can’t be upset for the guy. It would simply be selfish of me as a fan to not support him getting a dream offer. I think we’re all hoping he stays though. As I said earlier there’s no actual information released that says he’s going anywhere, it’s a waste of time and energy to get upset about this before anything has even happened.

I don't know him and it may be how he controls his image and how the press portrays him, but I don't see him leaving. I think he will look for ways to make it work here. There may be some flirting along the way, but I think the school realizes how this run has impacted the school's profile. I look at his mentor, Rick Majerus, and his run at Utah. He stayed at Utah for 15 years and left on account of health problems. Majerus turned down a series of higher profile jobs. I think he can carve out his own legacy here. Look at what the Meyer's did at DePaul and they couldn't coach. From a lifestyle perspective, there are no college town's that have what Chicago has to offer. Besides, he already lives in the Rickett's house.

I agree with the post of Toledo Rambler who stated it all so eloquently but forgot one key accomplishment.

HE DEFEATED FRIGGIN' DEPAUL. It was Cully Payne's finest moment and to me signaled that the Moser era would be different.

It can indeed be frustrating to see a coach leave. We waited so long for this success and if he did leave now, we could lose a great recruiting class.
Ultimately though no matter what I believe that Dr. Rooney will not let the program falter and Steve Watson is a great AD and would find a suitable replacement.
A Final Four is a great accomplishment. Heck, I still think of George Mason being Final Four team so many years ago.

I am sure Swella can corroborate this being the fine attorney he is but yes PM did sign a contract AND it can be enforced. Specific performance is an option of remedy but what sense would that make. He could be forced to coach but would anyone in their right mind think that would be a good idea.

Contract extensions are an expression of faith and do assist in recruiting as a coach can point to the remaining term of a contract as a method of reassuring recruits that the coach who recruited them will be there for the long haul.

I would hate to see Porter leave but he needs to do what's best for him and his family and he would be foolish not to at least listen to what other schools can offer.
But coaches also have to remember that schools can be fickle in their expectations. Seven coaches in seventeen years at UNLV is hardly reassuring. Bryce Drew at Vandy I am sure did not think he would be canned in three years. In football Rodriguez had his contract at West Virginia bought out so he could accept the Michigan job and then got canned a few years later.

As the old expression goes, "be careful what you wish for!"

Yes, he signed a contract. But coaching contracts have buyouts. Hell, Nate Oats signed an extension at Buffalo after back-to-back tourney appearances and top 25 quality teams....and then about a week later, he was announced as the new coach of Alabama.

Curious what Porter's negotiated buyout is in the extended contract.